Ilfracombe Aquarium

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20 Year Anniversary

The aquarium celebrates its 20 years this week as we officially opened on 26th April 2002.

Where has that time gone?! Suffice to say, despite this milestone achievement, it has come with blood, sweat and tears along the way!

The last 2-3 years have been particularly difficult but I think that mirrors across the private sector.

Anyway, enough of the poignancy. There is a huge amount for us to be proud of. For ease I have listed some that spring to mind:

  • Surviving(!) – sustaining viability for this length of time despite all its challenges. Again, wouldn’t want to bore you with detail.
  • Remaining true to our core values, which is sharing the beauty and diversity of the local aquatic world responsibly. With the use of carefully recreated natural habitats, carefully considered, appropriate stocking of animals, dedication of the team in caring for the exhibits and collection overall whilst sharing the passion, enthusiasm and gratitude with our visitors. We hope with this ongoing team effort we have engaged, informed and inspired.
  • Leading by example with our near obsession for minimising our environmental impact. Recycling and reusing as much as we can whether that be familiar cafe & shop items to reusing as many materials as possible in our recent exhibit redesign build. Part of the reason (along with COVID-19) it took so long!
20 years today

We look forward to future years building on these solid foundations. We will continue to dedicate ongoing effort to further develop what we hope will be an increasingly valued fun and educational resource. To continue to inspire those who may influence further environmental awareness and conservation. As we all are aware, with the increasing pressures on the natural world this is more vital than ever before.

Thank you to all those who have supported us to date. From the dedicated team here – new and old to the all the individuals and organisations along the way. We will our best to ensure that your support has and will not been wasted. Finally a huge thank you to those visitors who have visited, shared their comments, and all round supported us on our journey to date. As suggested we will remain committed to improve our offer to you and new visitors into the future.

Best wishes,

Lawrence & all of Team Aquarium.. :0)